Shadow Witch (4 page)

“Yes ma’am. I’m big now. I’m almost seven.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it. When is your birthday?”

“In two weeks.”

“That’s right before Rollie’s,” Evelyn said as she backed out of the driveway.

“I know. And Fred and Jamie’s are in July. They have their party on the same day ’cause they were born almost at the same time.” Sammi nodded proudly. “I’ve been listening to everybody here for a long time.”

“Amazing,” Evelyn said and steered the car down the road. “Your magic is just as incredible as Jamie and Fred’s.”

“And Rollie’s, too. He’s super fast.”

“I guess you’re familiar with that, too.” Evelyn gave her head a tight shake. “You have us at a disadvantage because you know all about us and we hardly know you at all.”

“I can tell you all about me.” Sammi smiled when Evelyn glanced at her. “Ask me anything you want.”

“Anything? Even if it’s personal?”

Sammi said yes, so Evelyn asked, “How long have you been an orphan?”

“Since I was three.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“The man from Child Services said they died in a car crash, but they didn’t. My daddy killed my mommy and then killed himself.”

Evelyn sucked in her breath sharply. “Oh my, that’s so awful. How do you know that?”

“I heard my parents arguing the night it happened, and then the gunshots, though I didn’t know what they were. And later I heard the social workers talking about it.” Her voice grew quiet. “With my magic hearing. I wasn’t supposed to know.”

Evelyn glanced at her again. Sammi’s chin was almost touching her chest.
What a terrible thing for a child to bear
. “Let’s talk about something happier. What’s your best friend like?”

Sammi seemed to perk up as she told her all about Libby. Evelyn enjoyed listening to the little girl chatter and found herself smiling as she drove. When they passed the first shopping center, Evelyn spotted the Gold Clips hair salon on the corner, and she pulled in.

Although Jamie’s friends had refused to accept a share of the money that they’d discovered in the stone house on Eddan’s world, Fred and Rollie had agreed to let Jamie use some of it to help pay for their college fees — and a car.

Now all three of them drove new Chevys, identical except for the color. Jamie’s was blue, Rollie’s was black, and Fred’s, of course, was red. Jamie spotted Rollie’s automobile, polished and shining like an onyx sculpture, in the side lot of the veterinary clinic. Jamie pulled his car into the space next to Rollie’s and parked.

Jamie’s Saturday morning shift was supposed to start at 8:30, and he checked his watch as he hurried toward the front door.
Dang, I’m late
. He rushed inside and waved at the receptionist as he made his way to the back room, where he found Rollie, already dressed in his scrubs and leading a Jack Russell terrier to a cage.

“Dude,” Rollie said with a glance at the clock on the far wall. “Where you been?”

“Sorry,” Jamie said. “I got caught up talking with my parents about Sammi and didn’t notice the time.”

“That’s pretty wild stuff, huh?” Rollie opened the cage and let the dog in. “It’s like one problem after another with us, isn’t it?”

“I’ve got a theory about that.”

“I’m sure you do.” Rollie scratched the dog behind the ears and closed the cage door. “And you know I’d just love to drop everything right now and listen to it.” He gave Jamie a cynical look.

Jamie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I need to talk to Bryce and Melanie about it. Are you still going to Bryce’s party tonight after the graduation ceremony?”

“You bet. Wanna ride? Fred can come with us, too.”

“Yeah, why not? I guess you’re not taking a date.”

“No, man, I’m a free bird tonight.”

“I thought you were going to patch things up with Tanisha.”

“Don’t want to.” Rollie brushed his hands together. “We’re done. Besides, I’m leaving for college in less than three months. Why would I want to keep up a long-distance romance?”

Jamie didn’t have an answer. He knew better than to try to advise his friend on his love life. “I may need to leave work a little early today. I want to try to talk to Sammi before we go to the ceremony tonight. I want to find out as much as I can about her magic before Fred’s parents turn Sammi over to Child Services. Fred wants to take her to see Momma Sue tomorrow, if Sammi’s still around. Momma Sue’s definitely going to be interested in that little girl, if she’s really a Shadow Witch.”

Evelyn pulled her white Buick into Lisa’s driveway, and had barely shifted into park before Sammi threw open the passenger door and ran up the brick front steps. She turned on the stoop, stamped one foot and said, “Come on, Mrs. Wallace. Let’s show Mrs. Callahan what you bought me.”

“Hold your horses,” Evelyn said as she got out of the car. “We don’t even know if she’s home yet.”

“She is. I heard her talking on the phone to Mrs. Sikes just a minute ago.”

“How did you hear that?” Evelyn shook her head once. “Oh. Your magic.”

Sammi waited until Evelyn reached the bottom step before knocking on the front door, rapping with the knuckles of her small hand. Lisa opened it and let them in. “Sammi, did you behave for Mrs. Wallace?”

Sammi looked at Evelyn, and Evelyn said, “She was a little angel.”

“Oh, my goodness.” Lisa’s eyes went wide as she regarded Sammi. “You got your hair cut! It’s so short.” She glanced at Evelyn. “It’s a pageboy style. It’s really cute.”

“The stylist had to cut it that short,” Evelyn said. “Sammi’s little friend had made a real mess of it.”

“Well, you are just too adorable.” Lisa smiled at Sammi. “So what all did you get from the store?”

“Look!” Sammi turned slowly, showing off her new outfit: a lavender cotton top with dark purple shorts. “And these.” Sammi looked down and stomped her feet, and tiny lights flashed on the outsides of her sparkly new sneakers.

“Ooohh,” Lisa said. “Nice. I think Fred is going to be jealous.”

“Is she here? Can I show her?”

“Let me see what else you bought, first.”

Sammi opened her shopping bag and Lisa looked inside. “Looks like you bought out the whole store, Evelyn.”

“Oh, foo. I only bought her three tops and three pairs of shorts, all of them on sale.”

Sammi bobbed her head. “And some socks and underwear.” Sammi started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Can I show Fred now? Can I?”

“Yeah, sure.” Lisa waved her on. “She’s in her room.”

Sammi flew away to the stairs with her bag in hand, the rapid staccato of her footsteps fading as she neared the top.

Lisa gave Evelyn a level look. “You spent too much.”

“Not really. I told her it was an early birthday present.”

“Birthday? When?”

“In two weeks, right before Rollie’s.”

“I guess she won’t be here then.”

“She may not get anything at all for her birthday, otherwise.”

“That’s so sad.” Lisa sighed. “Well, thanks, I guess. She really needed the clothes. How much do I owe you?”

“We’ll work it out later. Right now, I’d love some coffee.”

They’d only just settled on the sofa with their steaming cups in hand when Carl knocked and let himself in. He had a manila folder tucked under his arm and wore a grave expression.

“I just got back from the station.” He sat down in the wing chair and opened the folder. “I used the police computers to do some checking on Duane Gundy, and he’s quite a character. He doesn’t have a criminal record, exactly, but he’s been charged quite a few times.” Carl ticked off on his fingers as he spoke. “Breaking and entering, three times. Assault, twice. Also, DUI and disturbing the peace. But the charges were always dropped.”

“Why?” Lisa said.

“Well, I called over to Bartram County and talked to a deputy in the sheriff’s office, and it seems that Mr. Gundy was friends with the former sheriff. They grew up together.”

“I still don’t see how a man like that could ever get to be a foster parent.”

“It’s a small town. Maybe he’s also friends with the social worker who handled Sammi’s case. There’s only one high school in Bicksby, maybe only one in the whole county. I’m sure everybody there knows each other.”

Carl leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “Sammi was right. Gundy was a bounty hunter, but he was forced to quit after his last tangle with a fugitive put both of them in the hospital. Gundy ended up needing about thirty-five stitches.” Carl touched his jaw with one finger. “Which is how he got the scar right here on his face, I think. The other guy nearly died. Gundy beat the heck out of him with a two-by-four.”

“My goodness!” Evelyn said. “And he didn’t get charged with anything?”

“He claimed self-defense and got away with it, but that ended his bounty hunting career. Now he drives a delivery truck for an office supply company.” Carl exhaled sharply. “He sounds like a mean S.O.B. from what little I’ve learned of him. I sure wouldn’t want him for a foster father, if I were a kid.”

“Sammi told me a lot about him while we were shopping,” Evelyn said.

“Did anybody see you with her?”

Evelyn shook her head. “I took her to the Value Mart that’s closer to Asheville so I wouldn’t run into anybody that I know. I didn’t want to explain what Sammi was doing with me. I’d rather not lie if I don’t have to.”

“You sure can’t tell them the truth. Larry’s right, we could get in big trouble for not turning her over to the county right away. But I also called Child Services while I was at the station, and apparently, since Bartram County has custody of Sammi, Henderson County will send her back home if we turn her over to them.”

Evelyn shook one finger firmly at Carl. “There’s no way we’re going to let that happen. We can’t. Sammi told me some things about her foster father that are very disturbing.” Evelyn caught her breath before continuing, “Did you know that he killed their dog? It peed on their carpet and he got so mad that he kicked it against the wall. It died in Sammi’s arms.”

Lisa’s eyebrows drew down sharply. “That’s terrible!”

“And not only does he beat Sammi,” Carl said, “he slaps his wife around, too.”

“Well, I’m glad Sammi left.” One corner of Evelyn’s lip turned up in a half-smile. “She’s a gutsy little survivor.”

“I’m impressed that she had the wherewithal to run away like she did,” Carl said.

“She and her best friend planned this for months.” Evelyn turned to Lisa. “She got the idea when she overheard you and Rachel talking in the gazebo way back in February.”

Lisa closed her eyes for a moment and blew out a long gust of air with her cheeks puffed out. “Wish you wouldn’t remind me of that. It makes me feel like it’s my fault that this happened.”

Evelyn set her cup on the coffee table and put her hand on Lisa’s arm. “It’s a
good
thing that little girl is here, Lisa, a really good thing. She’s much better off here. She was absolutely certain that her foster father was going to molest her. She’s safe now, and much happier. She wanted to be here more than anything in the world.” Evelyn nodded. “She told me that, in those exact words.”

“That makes me feel worse,” Lisa groaned. “She can’t stay here permanently, but...how can I tell her that? It’ll break her heart.”

“So,” Carl said, “what are we going to do with her in the mean time?”

“I called Gina,” Evelyn said, “and she can babysit Sammi while we’re at graduation tonight. I thought maybe they could stay at your house, Carl, so Sammi can play in the clubhouse for a while.”

Carl glanced at his watch. “Maybe I should take the bench seat down and put the swings back up.”

“It’ll only be for a couple of hours,” Lisa said. “That’s a lot of trouble.”

“Not really. Shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes. Rachel wants me to do it anyway, before Aiven comes over again.” He crossed his legs and draped his hands over the ends of the armrests. “So what are we going to do about tomorrow morning? I don’t think we should take Sammi to church with us.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Lisa said.

“No, I will,” Evelyn said. “People will gossip if Larry goes without you.”

“But you never miss church, Evelyn.”

Carl waved one hand. “We can work that out later. Somebody will stay with her, for sure. Then we’ll figure out what to do with her afterwards.”

* * *

Duane Gundy swept the knick-knacks from the top of the shelf with one arm and yelled, “Where are my little black pills?”

“Honey,” Mrs. Gundy said with a timid wince, “I wish you wouldn’t take any of those today. They make you so aggravated.”

“I’m aggravated now!” He hurled a book across the room and it slammed against the wall. “I need ’em. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” He shook both fists at her. “Where the hell are they?”

“They’re in one of your boots in the bottom of the bedroom closet. You hid some of them there last time Mrs. Nash came.”

“Well, what are you standing around for? Run in there and fetch ’em.”

His wife hurried off and he paced the floor, biting furiously on a thumbnail. She returned moments later and handed him the orange plastic bottle. He yanked off the cap and dumped two of the shiny black capsules in his hand, put them in his mouth and swallowed them dry.
That ought to do the trick
.

“I’m going to Haynesville and ask around at the bus station. We got any pictures of Sammi I can take with me?”

“No,” she said. “You wouldn’t let me buy her school pictures.”

“Damn! We don’t have any?”

His wife shook her head and he kicked the nearest chair. “How much time we got ’fore Mrs. Nash comes for her next visit?”

“It’s always the last Thursday of the month.”

“Good. That gives me plenty of time to find Sammi.” He shook his head angrily. “That old lady don’t like me. She’ll take Sammi away for sure if she finds out she done run away.”

“Miss Parks was a lot nicer, I thought. Wish she was still Sammi’s caseworker.”

“Well she ain’t, ’cause she moved to Raleigh.” He pulled his car keys from the pocket of his jeans. “I’m going. Don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

She put her hand to her cheek and furrowed her brow. “Duane...I...don’t you think it’s time we called somebody? I mean, what if she’s hurt or —”